1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to computer systems, and, in particular, to a technique for processing input objects to generate output objects.
2. Description of Related Art
In many development environments, one or more development teams can work on various systems that interface with each other. For example, a first group of developers may be responsible for maintaining a banking system that accesses a shared database to process a request for information. A second group of developers may be responsible for maintaining the database. In conventional systems, for the first group of developers and the second group of developers to build the banking system and database, each group needs to understand the work being done by the other group.
In this environment, producing an output desired by the first team of developers is typically related to whether the independently developed systems are compatible. Problems generally arise when inconsistencies exist between the systems. To illustrate, suppose that the banking system provides inputs to the database system, which executes a function using the inputs and returns data to the banking system. In this case, if the input contains parameters that are inconsistent with the function's parameter requirements, the function will not execute properly, and thus, will not produce a valid output.
Therefore, in traditional development environments, one or more members of each development team are required to understand the logic of systems that are dependent on their team's system. For instance, at least one member of the first team would typically need to understand the internal logic of the function executed by the database system. Additionally, each team would have to track changes to the internal logic of the other team's systems. Developing one system, while tracking the development of another system, may increase the time required to develop either system. This task is further exacerbated when each dependent system contains complex programming logic.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved technique for processing input objects to generate output objects that eliminates the necessity of developers for a first system needing to understand the internal logic of a second system with which the first system interacts.